


The Upside of Being Stuck in a Cave

by kenzz_95



Series: Ghost Hunting Verse [2]
Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: First Kiss, Friends to Lovers, Love Confessions, M/M, Mutually oblivious idiots
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-01
Updated: 2020-10-01
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:54:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,957
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26753884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kenzz_95/pseuds/kenzz_95
Summary: A cave in leaves Jim and Bones stuck in a cave on an alien planet all night. Jim obviously has something to say, but he's going to take his own sweet time doing it.
Relationships: James T. Kirk/Leonard "Bones" McCoy
Series: Ghost Hunting Verse [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1948540
Comments: 8
Kudos: 78
Collections: Trektober 2020





	The Upside of Being Stuck in a Cave

**Author's Note:**

> This has very little (uh, nothing) to do with the plot of the rest of the fic, and I was originally just going to make the next little one shot sequel the epilogue but I couldn't stop thinking about how they got to the point they're at in the next one and I love a good love confession so I had to write this and share it with you guys. I hope you enjoy.
> 
> If you found this on the Trektober page or something, be aware that this can technically stand alone and you'll understand most of it, but for improved context of what they're talking about at some points you should go back and read the first work in this series. 
> 
> (Written as a follow up to my ghost hunting fic, but also fits the Trektober Day 1 prompt: First Kiss).

“Kirk to Enterprise, Enterprise come in.”

Nothing but static. Again.

“Well ain’t that just great,” Leonard groaned, sinking down to sit against the cool stone wall. His feet touched the wall on the other side when he stretched out. Wonderful.

“Hell of a welcome back mission,” Jim agreed, sitting down next to his friend.

A month. That’s how long they were into their five year mission. How long it had been since Leonard had sat down on Jim’s left on a shuttlecraft taking them from earth to the Enterprise, all shiny and new and repaired post-Kahn. How long it had taken for the pair to end up in some sorta weird ass situation again.

“I’m going to die in a cave,” Leonard declared and through the light of his flashlight he could see his friend roll his eyes,

“We are not going to die in a cave. Well, not this cave. Can’t rule out future incidents.”

And Jim was right. Leonard knew that Jim was right. They had been exploring the planet’s surface, got some strange readings from inside this cave, and had gone to investigate. But, unbeknownst to them, there had been some sort of drilling on the surface that had triggered an underground rock slide, trapping the captain and the CMO in a space that, when Leonard thought about it, was roughly the size of two coffins. Okay, maybe a bit bigger, but still.

The thing was, he knew they were going to be fine. The rest of the away team knew what had happened and had stopped the activity on the surface, so there wasn’t a major risk for another cave in. There was plenty of air flow and they had plenty of water, although it was a bit on the dusty side in the cave. And tomorrow morning the ion storm was going to stop and they would get transported right back to the Enterprise and everything would be fine. Despite all this, though, Leonard still did not care to be stuck in a cave. Call it a personal preference.

“You’re going to go insane bored in here, aren’t you?” Leonard asked. Being stuck in a cave all night without anything to do was a recipe for Jim getting all understimulated, sort of jittery, and intensely annoying in a way that Leonard really wished he could actually be annoyed at.

“Hey, the company could be worse,” Jim grinned, bumping Leonard’s shoulder with his own. Leonard positively melted in an absolutely juvenile way at the contact and the compliment before he reminded himself that to Jim it meant nothing. Jim hadn’t worked himself to the bone, had several panic attacks and a complete and total nervous breakdown while trying to bring his best friend back to life just a year prior. Jim hadn’t sobbed like a baby in public when he realized that his best friend was going to be okay, and Jim hadn’t realized that the myriad of feelings he had experienced over the course of those hellish two weeks were by no definition indicative of friendship and ya know what maybe they never were. Leonard didn’t know exactly how long he had been in love with Jim - not just loved him, but been  _ in love _ with him - but he knew it happened long before that panic-inducing realization outside Jim’s hospital room. He had loved him at least since Jim had said “let’s go ghost hunting!” and Leonard had  _ agreed _ because he could never bring himself to deny Jim anything and then he had told Jim a secret he hadn’t even told his own goddamn ex-wife and God he wondered why it took him so long to realize it. But Jim didn’t feel the same way, he was certain of that, so Leonard swallowed it and contented himself with the friendship that was enough. More than enough. And that’s what Leonard did now. He shook off the feeling of love that sometimes threatened to knock him off his feet, nudged Jim’s shoulder back, and attempted to laugh casually,

“You’re telling me. I was one random executive decision away from being stuck down here with  _ Spock _ .”

“God, you two would’ve killed each other,” Jim laughed in return, not noticing as he never did the way he casually knocked his own best friend on his ass. “I can’t afford to replace my two best officers one month into the mission. What a nightmare.”

“Oh, please, I wouldn’t have killed him.”   


“Oh really?”

“‘Course not. I just would’ve jabbed a sedative hypo in his neck when he wasn’t looking, propped him up against a wall, and enjoyed some goddamn alone time.”

“You’re not gonna hypo me, are ya Bones?”

“Suppose that depends.”

“On what?” Jim squawked in mock offense.

“On just how annoying you get,” Leonard teased and Jim raised his hands in a gesture of peace,

“Okay, okay, I’ll be good, I promise.”

And the thing was, Jim was good. The two men talked for hours, not really about anything of consequence, and Jim was tapping his foot which Leonard recognized as a sign of excess physical energy but aside from that the other man looked unbothered by their predicament. Finally, Leonard suggested they try to get some sleep because it had to be the middle of the night at this point, at least on ship’s time, and they both stretched out on the floor of the cave, lying close. Real close. The area they were trapped in was just wide enough for them both to lay on their backs at the same time, but their shoulders were touching. They both began the night on their sides, and Leonard slipped off into sleep fairly quickly after forcing himself to think of anything  _ but _ his proximity to Jim. Jim, however, was apparently not having as much luck. The kid kept tossing and turning, clearly unable to get comfortable on the rock floor in such a confined space. Every time Jim would turn, he would brush against Leonard just enough to light a little fire in Leonard’s nervous system and drag him back to consciousness, even just a little. After a few hours of drifting in and out of sleep between Jim’s restless, Leonard groaned and rolled over to face his friend, though he couldn’t see him in the pitch black darkness.

“Okay, that’s about enough of that.”

“Sorry,” Jim apologized, and Leonard wondered if the tips of his ears were flushing. They probably were. For all his bravado, Jim hated being an inconvenience to anyone. Little did he know but Leonard had never once viewed him as such in the 5 years of their friendship.

“Not your fault, but I can’t sleep if you don’t. We might as well stop trying. We can sleep when we get back to the ship.”

“Okay,” Jim agreed as he shifted again, this time so he was facing Leonard as well, so close their breath intermingled. Leonard’s brain short-circuited for about half a second. They were both silent, though, and Jim was finally still to the point where Leonard started drifting off again. At least until Jim broke the silence by asking, apropos of absolutely nothing,

“Remember, back at the Academy?”

“You’re gonna have to be more specific on that one, kid.”   


“Remember our fourth term when I made you go ghost hunting with me?”

“Yeah, what about it?”

“Remember how I won?” Jim asked and Leonard could just  _ see _ the smirk.

“I seem to recall me winning but you somehow managing to talk me into a tie,” Leonard reminded his friend. In actuality, he hadn’t minded the tie. He had gotten to send that entire weekend with Jim, when back then usually the other man would’ve hung out with him at some party for a few hours before going home with someone else. He added that to his mental list of reasons why he should’ve known  _ way _ earlier than he did.

“So,” Jim flipped again, onto his back this time, “You think this cave is haunted?”

Oh. So that’s what this was about. Leonard rolled his eyes even though he knew Jim couldn’t see the gesture.

“I think the hell not.”

“Why? Because you’re not getting any feelings from this place or because you’re still clinging to the belief that there are maybe 5 ghosts in the galaxy and we’ve met one of them?”

“Take your pick.”

“You’d tell me if the Enterprise was haunted, right? As your captain, you have to tell me. That’s an order.”

Leonard never knew what he was going to get when Jim Kirk was forced into a situation with nothing to do in the middle of the night. As far as conversation topics went, this one could be worse so he decided to go along with it.

“Can a starship even  _ be _ haunted?”

“I dunno, Bones, you’re the one with like ESP or something, you tell me.”

Leonard elbowed Jim in the ribs,

“I still resent that designation.”

“I know,” Jim remarked brightly.

There was more silence after that, but the good kind, as it nearly always was with Jim. Leonard didn’t start falling asleep again, though. There was more to this conversation, he could just sense it, but sometimes with Jim you just had to wait him out.

“That was the best semester of my life,” Jim began again after nearly 10 minutes of silence in this still, dark cave. Oh, so there it was.

“You spent a significant portion of 5th semester  _ and _ some of 6th hooking up with a goddamn Orian,” Leonard pointed out.

“So?” Jim asked and it felt like there was an entire world in that one word. Leonard didn’t know what to say, so he just told the truth,

“Fourth semester was my favorite, too. But it was never about the ghosts.”

“The ghosts were merely a plot device in the story of our friendship,” Jim agreed.

“You gonna write yourself a memoir?”

“Fuck no. Can you imagine? Chapter 1, BeFriending The Dude Who Threw Up On Me: A Meet Ugly For the Ages.”

Leonard laughed and kicked him in the shin. 

“You  _ suck _ at this ‘do no harm’ thing,” Jim observed.

“I have been known to violate medical ethics where you’re concerned.”

“Once to my benefit, every other time to my detriment.”

“The once to your benefit was big enough that you’re still in the red with me. I can kick you everyday for the rest of your goddamn life if I want.”

“There are worse things, probably.”   


“Like what?”

“Like, I dunno, getting eaten by a giant pit of giant snakes?”

“That hasn’t even happened to you.”   


“Not yet!” Jim exclaimed, his smile in his voice, and Leonard sighed,

“Jesus Christ, you’re gonna put me in an early grave.”

“Ya remember those ambassadors we dropped off at that conference on New Vulcan for shakedown?” Jim asked about an hour later. They were still sitting in the pitch black darkness and had been talking mostly casually since they gave up on sleep. Jim seemed slightly tense, though it was hard to tell without seeing his face but they were trapped in a cave at probably 3 in the damn morning or something so Leonard didn’t think much of it.

“What, last month? Yeah, I don’t have short term memory loss.”

“One of them said something weird to me.”

“Just one? I seem to recall that being a pretty odd bunch.”

“This one guy, he thought we were married.”

“We as in…”   


“As in you and me, yeah.”

Shit. Leonard did not want to have this conversation. Not even a little bit. He tried to channel all his energy on Scotty miraculously being able to beam them up early. He’d clean their bathroom for a month straight if that happened, at least. But no. He was still lying in that damn cave and Jim was still waiting for him to say something. Eventually, he settled on,

“So?”

“I mean that’s really weird, right? That he would think that? Because, like, we’re not,” Jim said, in an approximation of the tone of voice he used when trying to explain a joke to Spock.

“I’m aware of that.”

“Also kinda a weird question to ask someone.”   


“I suppose,” Leonard agreed. He really,  _ really _ did not want to be having this conversation right now. To the point where he couldn’t even be bothered to participate in it. This wasn’t the first time the pair had been mistaken for a couple, but it was the first time they had ever  _ talked  _ about it. It seemed that, going all the way back to the Academy, they had a silent mutual understanding to not discuss those times when people misinterpreted the nature of their relationship. Apparently not anymore.

“Hey, Bones?” Jim asked after a few beats of silence.

“Yeah Jim?”

“Are you…”

“No,” Leonard replied, before he even had a chance to find out what Jim was going to say.

“Okay there’s no way in hell you know how I was going to finish that sentence. Are you okay? You’re being weird.”   


“I’m being weird?  _ You’re  _ being weird.” He sounded childish and he knew it. He also didn’t care.

“Maybe it’s, ya know, the carbon monoxide,” Jim speculated and Leonard rolled his eyes,

“What carbon monoxide? This place is well ventilated, we made sure of that.”

“Well maybe it’s changed.”   


“ It hasn’t. I checked half an hour ago.”

“How come?”

“Because it’s my  _ job _ .”

“Touche,” Jim conceded.

Leonard sighed, sat up, and made a move for the flashlight. Lying next to Jim in the darkness like this was making for a weird atmosphere and if he wasn’t careful he was going to end up saying something he would regret. Jim caught on to what he was doing, though, and caught him by the wrist as he was reaching for the light.

“We should conserve power for when we really need it. We have no way to recharge the solar cells in here, who knows how long they’ll last.”

“You know,” Leonard cocked an eyebrow, “I know, so I know you know. These things have 1000 hours of continuous run time even without a charge. That’s over a month. I think we’re good. We’d die of dehydration long before then anyways.”

“Oh, Bones, ever the optimist. What would I do without you?” Jim teased then his tone became more hesitant, “It’s just nice, ya know, in the dark. Relaxing.”

“You like not being able to see your own hand in front of your face, fine,” Leonard sighed, not caring enough to argue the point as he laid back down next to Jim. 

Another hour passed in a similar fashion. Jim was building to something, Leonard could tell that much, but he had no idea what was going on in the kid’s head this time. Whatever it was, it was making Jim a bit nervous. But that could be anything, really. Jim had matured a lot since the two of them had met, and he knew the whole Kahn experience had been a bit of a wakeup call, but the younger man was still inherently uncomfortable with vulnerability. But then there was another pause and Leonard thought maybe Jim was finally showing his hand when he sighed and admitted,

“I didn’t know if you’d come back.”

“Back to where?” Leonard asked, even though he had a pretty good guess what Jim was talking about.

“The Enterprise. With me. Us. I know you’re not the biggest fan of this particular brand of bullshit, and you seemed to really like your job at SFM while we were stuck back on earth.”

“I considered it for a while.”

“You did?” Jim asked, sounding awfully surprised for someone who had brought this up out of nowhere.

“Yeah,” Leonard admitted, hoping this didn’t reveal too much, “Back when you first woke up. When they didn’t know if you’d be able to be cleared for full starship duty again. I would’ve stayed. But after a year on the Enterprise, SFM seemed almost mundane. I wasn’t mad we went out again.”

“You would’ve stayed with me? On Earth? If it had come to that?”

“‘Course I would’ve. I’ve told you several times, Jim, I ain’t leaving you behind. And there’s nothing you can do to change that. You’re stuck with me, sorry.”

“God dammit,” Jim teased, but it came out a bit pinched, as it usually did when Jim was trying to deflect something.

“I know there’s still a piece of you that thinks that eventually everyone leaves, but that ain’t true. You have people who love you. I love you,” Leonard said, even though he hated the way those words felt coming out of his mouth. They felt wrong, just as they had since he realized he didn’t love Jim like a brother, he loved him like a lover. Jim thought he was saying one thing but he really was saying another and it never quite sat right with him. But Jim needed to hear it sometimes.

“I know, I know, that’s not what this is about.”

“So what is it about?” 

Jim said nothing. For a really long time, Jim said nothing at all. But then finally he mumbled, mostly to himself but Leonard caught it because it was so damn quiet in here.

“Fuck it. Fuck it, fuck it. It’s just Bones, fuck it.”

Leonard said nothing. If Jim was about to actually broach the topic he had been dancing on the edge of all evening then he didn’t want to risk scaring his friend off.

“So...you know how earlier I said 4th semester was the best semester at the Academy?”

There was a sarcastic remark on the tip of Leonard’s tongue but he swallowed it and simply hummed a note of affirmation.

“The reason for that, really, well at least the main reason for that, is ‘cause that’s the semester I fell in love with you.”

Leonard stopped breathing. He stopped breathing, his heart stopped beating, everything just  _ stopped _ . Because Jim had just said...Jim just said  _ what _ ? He couldn’t process it, couldn’t even begin to question if this was real life or a dream or a goddamn joke or what. Because his brain wasn't working.

“Bones? Say something?” Jim asked, his voice uncharacteristically shaky after Leonard still hadn’t responded in a space of time between the seconds and hours it somehow simultaneously felt like. Leonard fought to catch his breath, but the only words his mouth could seem to form were,

“What did you just say to me?”

“You heard me. Don’t make me say it again.” There was a pinched quality to Jim’s voice now, like all his instincts were telling him to run but he literally couldn’t. The thing was, though, that Leonard wanted to make Jim say it again. And again and again and again until the words started sounding funny and a bit made up.

Leonard reached for his flashlight, but Jim seemed to know where he was going because his wrist was caught yet again as Jim implored,

“Please don’t make me see your face right now.”

“Close your fucking eyes then,” Leonard snapped but when he turned the beam on, bathing the cave in soft light, Jim’s eyes stayed open. He was guarded and closed off, like he had just admitted to first degree murder or something equally horrible. But he was worrying his lip and Leonard longed to kiss him until he believed he wasn’t alone in this feeling, but Leonard wasn’t about to get his hopes up. Not yet.

“So this...this you being in love with me thing,” Leonard said, pinching the skin on the back of his hand as he spoke because dammit this  _ must _ be a dream, “How long did that last?”

Jim laughed without humor, “You want me to let you know when that happens or something?”

And suddenly Leonard couldn’t breathe again. This...God, this was really happening. 

“I think I’m gonna vomit,” Leonard murmured under his breath, too late realizing that Jim was going to take that entirely the wrong way.

“There’s no need to be a fucking dick about it,” Jim snapped, scrambling to his feet and towards some distance between the two of them. Okay, Leonard had to pull himself together right now. He didn’t know exactly what to say, but he knew it had to start with an apology.

“Hey, Jim, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that in the bad way. I just...I’ve spent the past year not even allowing myself to  _ hope _ and you changed that in a second and I feel like the floor just dropped out from under my feet, but in the good, amusement park kinda way.”

“Explain to me what the hell that means,” Jim said. It wasn’t a request.

“Sit down,” Leonard countered. It wasn’t a request either. Jim did so and Leonard sighed, “You know I love you too, right?”

“Yeah, brother you never had and all that, that’s not what I’m talking about.”

“That’s not what I’m talking about either. Jim, I’m in love with you too.”

It felt good to get it out. Like there was suddenly a weight lifted off his shoulders. Jim just blinked at him once, twice, then,

“How long?”

“A year at least, but definitely longer. Maybe forever.”

“You never said anything,” Jim pointed out. It was a stupid comment, one obviously borne out of not really knowing what else to say. So, partly to shut Jim up but mostly because he  _ could _ now, Leonard leaned in and pressed his lips to Jim’s and kissed him. It was...damn. There were no words for it. It was perfect, but imperfect like all first kisses are, but also perfect in its imperfection. Because this was Jim and he was kissing Jim and this was the culmination of everything he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about for a year and Jim’s lips were soft and his mouth was warm and, God, Leonard had been married once but he had never felt this way in his fucking  _ life _ . But then Jim was pulling away and breathing hard, almost jagged breaths and Leonard ran his hand through his hair, pulled just a little, and asked,

“Darlin’, you doin’ alright?”

“Shit, now I think I’m gonna throw up,” Jim remarked, still breathless in a way that made him sound like he was about 30 seconds away from a panic attack.

“That bad?” Leonard teased lightly, squeezing his friend on the shoulder in an attempt at familiarity.

“That good,” Jim corrected him, and took a deep hitching breath and shook his head, “Fuck, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize.”

“I’ve just spent the past 3 years wanting this, wanting  _ you _ like this, and it’s all…”

“A little overwhelming?” Leonard guessed when Jim didn’t finish his sentence. Jim nodded once,

“I think I blacked out a bit, actually.”

“You are so goddamn dramatic,” Leonard said, voice thick with affection as he kissed the other man between thick brows, then again on the tip of his nose, then finally on his lips, just a peck, short and sweet.

“You love it.”   


“Well, I love you and it seems that comes with the territory, so…”   


“I love you too, Bones.”   


As long as he lived, Leonard was never going to get tired of hearing those words come out of Jim’s mouth. 

“We can take it slow as you need,” Leonard promised, taking Jim’s hand in his own because, well, he  _ could _ , “It’s a bit overwhelming for me, too, and besides I wasn’t planning on fucking you in this cave anyways.”

“With our luck they’d beam us back up right in the middle,” Jim grinned and it was such a Jim Kirk grin, one Leonard had seen for five years now, and that was perfect because they were still them and they’d always be them, just a little different now. Before he could think on that too much, though, Jim was kissing him again and his brain effectively shut off.

Jim was more comfortable this time, a bit more confident. They weren’t going anywhere fast, which was fine with both of them. Just kissing had never made Leonard feel like this before, but then again nothing to do with Jim Kirk was ever “just” anything. Everything was sweet and slow and it had been a long,  _ long _ time since he had kissed someone he loved. He had forgotten how good it could be, although he didn’t remember it ever being  _ this _ good. 

It was weird, almost, how familiar it felt to kiss Jim. They had never done anything like this before, but they knew each other so well and trusted each other so fully that there was a comfort in the physical intimacy that usually only came with time. Coupled with the spark of newness, it made for an interesting experience. Good interesting, though. Fantastic, in fact.

“Why now?” Leonard asked, as they were on a brief pause. He was tracing the shape of Jim’s cheekbone with his thumb, and Jim was rubbing lazy circles into his back, but really they were just  _ being _ . Together.

“Why what now? This?” Jim asked, sounding more relaxed than he had all night.

“You’ve been in love with me for  _ three years _ . Why say something now?”

“I dunno,” Jim sighed, running his hand up Leonard’s back to bury it in his hair, “I’ve been thinking about it for a while, but I was scared I’d fuck us up if you didn’t feel the same way. Frankly I never even imagined that you did. Here, though, it felt easier. I wouldn’t have to see your face as you turned me down and, well, you’d be stuck. You couldn’t go anywhere before I had the chance to explain that I wasn’t telling you because I expected something from you, but just ‘cause I got so sick of having to keep this damn secret.”

Leonard couldn’t think of anything to say to that, all he could say was, “I wouldn’t’ve left. Even if I didn’t feel the same way, I wouldn’t have walked out on you before you were through. There was nothing to be afraid of.”

“I didn’t see you telling me anytime in the past year,” Jim pointed out.

“You don’t date and I didn’t want casual,” Leonard said and then realized something that made him tilt Jim’s chin up so they were looking each other in the eyes, “I still don’t want casual.”

“Duh, Bones, I said I was in love with you, not that I wanted to fuck you into the ground,” Jim laughed easily, “Not that I  _ don’t _ want that, because trust me I do and when we get back to the ship and maybe sleep a few hours then I’ll...fuck it, I’m too tired to think of a good come on, you get the picture. I was figuring that, ya know, this made us boyfriends.”

The idea of Jim Kirk being anyone’s boyfriend, let alone  _ his _ , made Leonard’s head spin a little bit.

“I figure that sounds great to me,” he said and then captured Jim’s lips with his own once again. But they only kissed for a few moments this time before Leonard pulled away just a little and asked,

“Wait, were you planning on trying to pass this whole thing off as a carbon monoxide induced delusion if I turned you down?”

Jim flushed, “I thought about it, but decided it was a bit manipulative.”

Leonard snorted and pulled Jim in closer again, “You’re absurd.”

They were kissing when they received the comm from the ship, which wasn’t saying much considering that’s what they had been doing the better part of the past couple hours. Things had started to heat up a little, and Leonard was sucking a hickey into the base of Jim’s throat when Jim’s communicator chimed and he groaned as he flipped it open.

“Enterprise to Kirk.” It was Scotty.

“Go ahead,” Jim said, obviously a bit breathless. It took all Leonard had to keep from laughing.

“You two ready to get outta there? Storm ended a bit early,” Scotty said and Jim replied,

“Yeah, just give us a minute to collect our things, we’ll comms you when we’re ready. Kirk out.”

Jim then pressed a quick kiss to Leonard’s lips, still looking absolutely overjoyed that he could just do that now. “To be continued,” he mumbled and then they both set to work gathering their items they had effectively strewn across this space, small as it was.

“Wait,” Jim said, grabbing Leonard’s wrist as they were about to signal to Scotty that they were ready to beam back up. He seemed to realize he didn’t have to hold back the physical contact anymore and slid his hand down a little and intertwined their fingers together. “Are we going to tell the crew or do you wanna keep this between us for a while?”

“What do you want?”

“I don’t have strong feelings, really. I’ll go along with whatever you want.”

The thing was, neither sounded ideal to Leonard, and he had just thought of a third option that he was sure Jim was going to have way too much fun with.

“What if, instead of that, we didn’t tell anyone but didn’t really try to hide it either?” Leonard suggested, “And see how long it takes them to figure out something changed.”

Jim’s eyes lit up, bright blue and sparkling in the way that always made Leonard a bit weak in the knees. 

“God I love you, you genius. Hell yeah,” Jim grinned a bit wickedly and kissed Leonard one more time before pulling his hands back, flipping open his comm, and saying, “Kirk to Enterprise. Two to beam up.”

**Author's Note:**

> Maybe after Trektober is done I'll write out how the scenes of how the boys realized they loved each other. We actually saw Jim's in the main fic, just from Bones' point of view (it was in the second to last chapter). 
> 
> Epilogue 2 comes Sunday because I managed to twist a Trektober prompt to fit what I had planned for that one as well.


End file.
